See how different plants that grow in Toronto (AgCanada hardiness zone 6; USDA zone 5) look all year round and at different stages in their life cycles.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Beautiful Eumorpha pandorus: another reason to grow native plants!

On the wall of the Danforth/Coxwell Library, my son and I were thrilled to spot this big (8-9 cm) beautiful moth, who was kind enough to stay put while we ran home to get a camera and bug book.

This beauty is intriguingly named Pandora sphinx moth (sphinx Pandore). Its larval hosts include Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, vigne vierge de Virginie), and sure enough there is a Virginia creeper climbing on the wall of the library, which I photographed last year. (The larvae also feed on Vitis spp. (grapes, raisins).

I have been meaning to get some Virginia creeper growing in the backyard, and seeing this beautiful moth makes me all the more determined.